No. 79 - Haskins House

Haskins House
1894
1344 Carroll Avenue – map
Declared: 2/3/71

Check out the ‘witch’s hat”, fish-scale shingles, and loads of spindles on this 1894 house, the last Victorian home built on the 1300 block of Carroll Avenue.

Real estate man Charles C. Haskins built the home. Today it’s often referred to as “the gay Nineties House”.

In 1939, this building was a single-family home with six people between the ages of 20 and 64. That's according to a WPA census, which also gives 1899 as the year the house was built. The construction dates of other homes in that same census seem way off, so take that for what it's worth.

I should point out construction dates for this landmark vary from source to source (for instance, Gebhard and Winter maintain, due to the home’s “pure example of Queen Anne expansiveness” and the lack of spool-work and Eastlake ornamentation, the building could date with the rest of block’s 1887 houses or even earlier). I’ve chosen to go with 1894, the date given in the L.A. Conservancy brochure, Angelino Heights: The Victorians of Carroll Avenue, a reference I’ve stuck with a lot through this clump of Carroll Avenue monuments.

Also, the Conservancy brochure is the only place I’ve seen the original owner’s name as Haskins rather than Haskin. Please don’t allow the discrepancies to keep you awake at night.

Finally, as a bonus, another one of those buildings on the block not designated a city landmark (although, as part of the block’s overall designation, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it’s also part of the Angelino Heights HPOZ). It’s this four-unit apartment building, next to the Haskins House, on the southeast corner of Carroll/Douglas.

The Picture Album of Historic Angelino Heights, published by the Carroll Avenue Restoration Foundation in 1987, says oilman Peter F. McManus built this California Bungalow-style residence in 1902. Other sources report the construction date was closer to 1912 (or later). That 1939 WPA census I mentioned above records the year built as 1900 and 1926 for the year it was converted into apartments. It also makes notice of 1354 1/2, the fifth apartment in the rear, which is the last place I'd want an apartment.

Up next: The Palm Court of the Alexandria Hotel